Joanna Byrne

Today, we put forward a detailed motion on housing and critical infrastructure. Examples were given and statements from bodies involved in the delivery of homes, such as Uisce Éireann, the Irish Home Builders Association and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, were given, but the Government's amendment to this motion is a rinse and repeat of its response to all motions in this new Dáil ter…

91. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to provide details from all agencies under his remit of capital projects that cost more than €500,000 and were either abandoned or materially failed to be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22926/25]

This question is to ask the Minister to provide details for all agencies under his Department's remit of capital projects costing more than €500,000 that were either abandoned or materially failed to be delivered, and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I commend the Minister on instructing his Department to initiate this exercise and on providing transparency regarding what may be a huge waste of public money by multiple bodies under the aegis of his Department. Unfortunately for him, these wastes of money seem to follow him. When he was previously Minister with responsibility for the OPW, there were issues with money being wasted, such as the €…

The Arts Council's €7 million IT project failure and RTÉ's €3.6 million IT project failure are the headlines, instead of €10.3 million being spent wisely and well. Let us think of all the sports clubs, musicians and arts and cultural bodies that could have done so much with more than €10 million. It simply cannot continue, and I commend the Minister on his efforts to address it. Sinn Féin wants to…

The National Ambulance Service, NAS, is the State provider for pre-hospital emergency and intermediate care as part of the wider integrated health system. It is responsible for care from the point a 911 or emergency call is received, through treatment, transportation and handover of the patient to clinical teams at the receiving emergency department in hospital. As we speak this morning, serious c…

Increased investment is very welcome and I acknowledge that aspect of the Minister of State's response. However, at the moment, none of it is being directed to where it is needed. This issue in the Drogheda ambulance station has been going on for more than four years, as the Minister of State referenced. He also referenced that HSE officials were themselves shocked at the end of 2021 at the state…

There is a history of journalists in Ireland uncovering scandals, including the RTÉ payments scandal, the tracker mortgage scandal and the revelations in the Pandora papers. When questionable hip surgeries in CHI hospitals were raised by a whistleblower and an audit was conducted, this Government stayed silent. It stayed silent on the unnecessary hip surgeries until this scandal was exposed and pu…

Who and what company, Department or hospital benefited from that silence because I cannot make sense of that silence other than a cover up of failures? The expert first appointed to conduct the audit, an NHS consultant surgeon from England, resigned over a lack of clarity and confusion about their work. Was that lack of clarity and confusion by design?

The Minister has to understand that these are questions parents are asking us. Last year, a whistleblower was worried that some of these operations at Cappagh and Temple Street hospitals were purely for financial gain. The whistleblower was proved right when the audit my colleague referenced took a sample of 147 cases from 2021 to 2023 across 14 surgeons and three hospitals.

The draft report found that 79% of hip surgeries in Cappagh were not necessary, 60% at Temple Street were not necessary, 2% at Crumlin were not necessary and all those operations cost about €1,600 each. Those figures are scandalous. We have heard about cowboy tradesmen but does this point to cowboy surgeons? These revelations come at the same time as the completion of HIQA's investigation into th…

When it appeared in the news that a recent briefing document prepared for the Minister, when he was new to his role, listed the finalisation of the draft household water conservation charge regulations as a high-level priority, my reaction, along with the majority of the country, was that they could not be serious. How many times do Governments need to be told that "No" means no before it sinks in…

It should come as no surprise that Sinn Féin supports the principle behind this Private Members’ motion, as many of the policy proposals are in line with Sinn Féin’s housing policy. Of course, correction is needed. The Government’s overall housing policy has not worked to date and will not work in the future. To think otherwise is to ignore the facts. While the Minister, Deputy Browne, gave his op…

This morning, I hosted a briefing here in Leinster House with Dignity4Patients, an organisation that supports victims of sexual abuse and inappropriate sexual behaviour in medical settings. For decades, the great and the good of Irish politics have pledged their support to this organisation and, in particular, to the survivors of Ireland's most prolific paedophile, Michael Shine. Yet, survivors st…

Yes.

In my maiden speech in December, I emphasised how I am a young woman who prides myself on breaking down barriers for women in worlds traditionally dominated by men. Verona Murphy, too, has done that as the first female Ceann Comhairle of this House. She had a chance to dispense with the old boys' club, the back-room deals, the wink-and-nudge politics and, indeed, the stroke politics. She had a cha…

That is not what this is about.

Despite Government assertions that it is tackling the housing crisis and adequately fighting to end homelessness, the reality on the ground tells a far different story. In one week in January 2024, there were 172 adults accessing emergency accommodation in Louth. In the same week in 2025, that had jumped to 232 adults. That is a stark 35% increase in those needing emergency accommodation in the sp…

1. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the timeline for the replacement of the TV licence fee by direct funding from the Exchequer, managed by Coimisiún na Meán; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10148/25]

I ask the Minister to give a timeline for the replacement of the TV licence fee by direct funding from the Exchequer, managed by Coimisiún na Meán, and to make a statement on the matter.

A vibrant, diverse, financially sustainable and independent media sector is critical to any well functioning democracy. Across Europe, the TV licence model is being phased out because it is outdated and does not work. The Minister is aware that in 2022 the Future of Media Commission recommended the TV licence fee be replaced by direct Exchequer funding in 2024. The Minister's Government chose to i…

It is interesting that the Minister asks me where I would get the figures from. I have read the Minister's brief and, in the sections that detail the agencies under the remit of his Department, the annual budget for Coimisiún na Meán is blank. No figure is provided. Is the Minister considering reforming the TV licence before providing this figure or where is he at with it? It is a serious matter. …

3. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to give an update on and a timeline for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland, as contained in the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10149/25]

I ask the Minister to give an update on and a timeline for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland, as contained in the programme for Government, and to make a statement on the matter.

Despite football being the biggest sport in Ireland, I feel it has been overlooked for too long in this country, in particular our footballing academies. The future of Irish football relies on investment, resources and infrastructure to support, build and evolve youth football. Historically, resources have not been there to give players the contact hours with coaches that are necessary. Irish club…