Réada Cronin

You were not so quick to defend Deputy Whitmore when she was interrupted-----

I thank na Teachtaí Kenny and Newsome Drennan for bringing forward this motion. I welcome the farmers to the Dáil. This Mercosur deal has been dubbed "the cows for cars trade deal" by many who rightly believe this trade deal will overwhelmingly contribute to a climate crisis that is already out of control. Those who did the cows for cars deal do not care about the programme for Government. This d…

I welcome the young people to the Gallery. It is great to have so many people in the gallery on a Thursday afternoon. I give a special mention to Paul Minnock and Charlotte Minnock, who are with me on work experience. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta as ucht an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála inniu. Tá sé tábhachtach go bhfuil guth ag daoine óga sa lá atá in…

I did not heed him. My mother told me to go out and vote for the Labour Party.

I did my own thing because I always believed in a united Ireland as well. This is my last point and we have to take it very seriously. We are currently in a world of political extremism where young people can be easily sucked into a world view that is built on misinformation and deception. Young people who use the Internet a lot are particularly susceptible to this world view but I really believe…

The crisis in the cost of living is out of control. Every day in this Chamber, the Opposition comes to the Government with solutions to the issues that people are facing every single day. People are having to choose between lighting and heating and are paying through the nose for insurance, toll costs and petrol and diesel. The Minister of State knows these issues are facing people. Tá a fhios aig…

They are trying to work out if half of Fianna Fáil are clapping for Micheál Martin or if it is all of them. It is nonsense that is going on here.

Molaim mo chomrádaí an Teachta Aengus Ó Snodaigh as an obair ar fad atá déanta aige ar an mBille seo. Irish culture is much revered around the globe, from our music, our poetry and our plays to our dance. Our culture is synonymous with our identity as Irish people both at home and abroad. Our old rebel songs give us insight into our past, honouring those who came before us, ag troid ar son saoirse…

First, we support the need for this Bill but objected to the fact that there was no pre-legislative scrutiny. I hope the Minister will look at our amendments in good faith. The ESB must focus on the public good. The Minister will have heard me on several occasions, here and in the planning committee and the infrastructure committee, talking about the need to strengthen the infrastructure to stren…

I am disappointed that the Minister is not accepting our amendments in whole or in part. About 21% of our electricity goes towards data centres. I think I read recently that was set to increase to 30% by 2030. In France and Germany, it is around 3% or 4%. We have to make sure that the increased investment in the grid goes towards the public good. More importantly, amendment No. 2 deals with €1.5 …

The current state of our country's grid and infrastructure more broadly has been a direct result of years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael neglect. Decades of under-resourcing, bad planning and mismanagement by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have left us in the mess we are in now, with the crises in housing, education and health among a slew of others. Our grid infrastructure is the …

There comes a time in the march of a nation when it has to take the next step. That time is now. Irish unity is not just a distant aspiration. Deputy McDonald was right - the conversation has begun already among people of all ages. Uniting Ireland was brought up with me today when I met fifth and sixth-year students from Naas Community College on their visit to the Oireachtas - an chéad ghlúin eil…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Children and Equality pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)(b) and 184(a).

Decades of inaction, mismanagement and a lack of ambition from successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments have caused Ireland's critical infrastructural deficits to develop into a full-blown crisis across multiple sectors. An Teachta Daly referred to the motion that Sinn Féin brought forward last week and the snail's pace at which the Government has rolled out the transition to renewable ene…

I raise the case of Rebecca from Kildare. Twelve years ago following treatment for cervical cancer, Rebecca experienced early medical menopause. Women with cancer in remission are unable to use traditional hormone replacement therapy, HRT, but thankfully, a new drug for cancer survivors by the name of Veozah has been developed. This drug would be a game-changer for young women like Rebecca. Howeve…

In the past few weeks, we have all heard the crushing news that electricity providers are increasing prices by significant amounts this year, but there has been no intervention by the Government to protect those forced to pay the highest prices in Europe. SSE Airtricity will increase bills by 9.5%, Energia by as much as 12% and Bord Gáis by a whopping 13.5%. Hundreds of thousands of people across …

St. Farnan's Post Primary School in Prosperous has been oversubscribed-----

St. Farnan's Post Primary School in Prosperous. It has been oversubscribed for three years, putting serious pressure on the delivery of secondary school education in Prosperous and the surrounding area. Temporary accommodation, including a science lab, woodwork room, two classrooms, toilets and an office were coming up from a school in Monasterevin but that is only going to meet the needs of this …

There was delays on the Department's end.

I welcome the establishment of a commission of investigation into historical sexual abuse in schools. I am thinking first and foremost of the survivors, some of whom are here in the Public Gallery today, and those who were abused as children in the very places they should have been safe, namely, our schools and our State institutions. This has been a long time coming. The findings of the commissi…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important debate. Cases of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence are at a crisis point. Women's Aid was founded in 1974 and it has been instrumental in responding to the needs of women over the past 50 years. Having begun as a small service, it has grown into a national organisation that directly supports thousands of women throughout the country. I …

I too welcome the students to the Dáil. I listened to the Minister's speech and, like students up and down the country, I am none the wiser. Students have been left under serious pressure over the course of the past few weeks and their college term has not even begun yet. They are meant to be enjoying their summer holidays and getting a summer job. While many students and their families are stress…

When Pádraig Pearse stood outside the GPO on Easter 1916 to read the Proclamation, he read it not in the hopes that he might one day live to see it, but in the knowledge that the generations of republicans to follow would. The Proclamation of the Republic is not just a script to put in a picture frame. It is the inspiration of a republic that found a voice in our Proclamation. It was a document s…

For years, we have known about the state of the housing crisis and calling it an emergency. The President, Uachtarán na hÉireann, called it disastrous when he came to my constituency in north Kildare. Record level house prices, rising rents and missing its own building targets year after year is the Government's record on housing as well as misleading people in the last general election with made …

Comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit as a ról nua agus go n-éirí leis sa phost. It is imperative, as ever, that we should consider the future of our seas, our environment, our oceans and our rivers and the biodiversity that lives in them. Last week, the Taoiseach attended the UN Ocean Conference in Nice in France. Its theme was accelerating action and mobilising all actions to conserve and sustainably…