Ruth Coppinger

I asked a question of the Minister. Out of courtesy, given workers and people ask what the Minister replied when I ask him a question, is there any chance he could actually answer it?

I asked a question about whether he would allow a moving forward-----

-----of the protection of workers.

Does the Ceann Comhairle think that is okay?

I do not think it is okay.

It is so ignorant.

It is typical of the Michael O'Leary type that the Minister is, I have to say.

We absolutely have to have the SNA cull, or sorry review, put onto the Dáil agenda this week. Every single TD has been plagued by a deluge of representations on this. Fair play to parents, pupils and staff in the school in Dublin who yesterday called out the Government and got it to pause it. However, it has not dropped it; it has just paused it. It has to be discussed in the Dáil. What we have fr…

-----because, of course, there would not ever be another student who would have additional needs.

We all know that appeals very rarely go in favour of the parents or the student. Help with school refusal, anxiety and ADHD in mainstream schools is very important. It is very important that SNAs are maintained in schools. Shifting the focus away or on to the primary care needs of children, which is what the Minister is doing, will gut SNAs from so many schools. We need this put onto the agenda. W…

31. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach his assessment and response to the NESC report, Connecting People to the Energy Transition. [7830/26]

I welcome this Sinn Féin motion, particularly because it focuses on vulture funds, investment funds, cuckoo funds or whatever you want to call them. We are talking about large-scale property ownership where they buy a property and sell it on or rent it at a massive profit. Tomorrow yet another family in my constituency is facing the sheriff. They have gone through all of the court process to try t…

Yes. It is just factual and it is in the newspapers anyway. This is all from articles I have researched. Be Lettings and Vestry buy and sell from each other. It is unbelievable stuff. One effect of such house flipping in Dublin 15, in my own constituency, is that a three-bedroom, two-bathroom semi-detached house in Dublin 15 that was bought in November 2019 for €287,000 was sold in January 2025 fo…

4. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for a progress report on the capital grant funding provided to Dublin Zoo in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10737/26]

I want to ask about capital grant funding of €2.8 million that was given to Dublin Zoo by the OPW in 2025. That is part of a ten-year programme so there will be more funding in subsequent years. There is no scrutiny of Dublin Zoo. Who is going to monitor how this money is spent and what it is spent on? The zoo can also raise funds from the public through charity appeals and charging people at the …

That is my problem. It has been consistently raised on the floor of the Dáil that nobody is properly inspecting Dublin Zoo in an independent way. The Minister of State talked about the South American house and play areas. The director also had his house renovated during that Covid period while making appeals to the public for funds. My issue is animal welfare. There is a dog-fighter working as an…

Is the Minister of State a zoologist? A report was done recently by independent zoologists on Dublin Zoo. Elephants have half-----

-----the lifespan-----

May I have extra time? The Minister of State is barracking me as I am speaking.

It is unbelievable that he cannot sit and listen. I get little enough time to raise this topic. Elephants have half the lifespan in Dublin Zoo. Matriarchy and family are very important for elephants. These two sister elephants were split up. We should not be spending money sending children to zoos. Any money for conserving species and biodiversity would be better spent out in the wild where there …

Okay. It was very difficult when I was being barracked by the Minister of State.

7. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation for an update on the infrastructure projects currently being undertaken in Dublin West; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10742/26]

I ask the Minister for an update on infrastructure projects for the Dublin West constituency. The focus of my question is public transport, because of the litany of woes I hear about from constituents daily who, because of the other investment we have had, do not have access to the Luas or a metro. We have one of the largest populations in the city. People are suffering daily in their lives trying…

I have received many representations from people about the odyssey of the 39 bus route. Every time there is a new development, it is added to the same route without new or distinct routes being created. There needs to be change. I want to focus on the Tyrrelstown-Hollystown area because that is where much if the additional building has taken place. Public transport in the area is particularly atro…

I accept the Minister's acknowledgement of the position. However, as a Minister who represents the area, he has to deliver for people. Who else is going to be able to do that? The 40E is going to be replaced by the 262. I have already had two representations about that. The 262 route will terminate before Hollystown. As a result, people in Hollystown will not have a direct route into the city cen…