Seán Crowe

Our issue is about a special school for special children. It is a good example of the uncertainty, fear and distress being created around this SNA issue. The school was told in writing it was losing an SNA and then it was told it was not. There were two emails, with one withdrawn in 40 minutes. The NCSE asked parents to fill in a form outlining the care needs of their child. It is a difficult form…

The other worrying thing is that I believe there is a parental consent form, and that was not taken up either. We can furnish the Minister of State with the information in relation to this case but it raises issues as to whether this is happening in other schools. I have never heard of this type of thing happening before now. What is worrying is the point Deputy Murphy made in relation to the idea…

When big funds enter residential markets with deep pockets and all the tax advantages Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael magicians can conjure up, working families are effectively shut out of their own housing market. Workers, young couples, nurses, teachers, doctors, gardaí, construction workers and so many more simply cannot compete financially with institutional buyers, which can outbid any offer and ab…

I offer apologies from Deputy Ó Laoghaire. He is out with some bugs and has asked me to take his questions. Regarding the revised defence plan deadlines and so-called detailed implementation plan, it is extremely disappointing that dozens of defence spending deadlines have been significantly extended without any apparent explanation. It is embarrassing to say the least, considering that the Govern…

The most serious issue in our Defence Forces over the past 20 years has been the decline in personnel numbers and the brain drain of highly trained specialist personnel. The core of this issue are pay, conditions and career progression. Of the 43 delayed projects, 12 are in the area of human resources and career development, while another two are to do with pay and conditions. How can we ever exp…

Many would say that we are going backwards rather than forwards. The Government put a plan forward but many would say that it reneged on that, particularly around pay and the poor conditions. The Defence Forces' lack of anti-drone capability has quickly become an embarrassment to Ireland on the European stage. We had to go cap in hand to our neighbours and ask them for a dig out. Anti-drone syste…

142. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Defence if she will report on the damage sustained by LÉ Aoibhinn as a result of Storm Chandra and all necessary repairs that will need to be carried out; the operational status of LÉ Gobnait and her readiness to go to sea should the damage to LÉ Aoibhinn have been more severe; the status of the proposed forward operating base, FOB, on the east coast a…

Storm Chandra seems like a lifetime away now. It was quite a severe storm, however, as the many flooded homes in my constituency and across the State show. Storms like this are becoming increasingly common because of climate change. We must take on board the lessons that come from these events rather than just striking them off as bad luck. Even ships at berth were not safe. Can the Minister provi…

I have a couple of questions. If the Minister of State cannot answer them today, I would appreciate if he could come back to us. Why has it taken so long to get from the date of delivery of the LÉ Gobnait to the point where she is ready for service? We all know that these ships were a considerable investment, but one has hardly seen any use at all. Is it possible for LÉ Gobnait to put to sea for a…

I am still at a loss regarding the damage to the LÉ Gobnait. The Minister of State might come back to us again on that matter. The damage to the LÉ Aoibhinn raises questions as to whether Carlisle Pier in Dún Laoghaire is adequate or appropriate for naval use. As the saying goes, "Any port in a storm", but that did not prevent a ship from being damaged and potentially taken out of service. Maybe t…

Again, it is the issue of the triple lock. The triple lock neutrality protection is something that is valued by Irish people. It is extremely concerning that the Cabinet would so easily approve moves to dismantle the triple lock neutrality protection on the deployment of Irish troops abroad. Most evidence points to the fact that most Irish people believe that the triple lock neutrality protection …

I remember the Nice treaty and the Lisbon treaty and the assurances given to the Irish people at the time. I made the point that the Irish people do not trust the Government, they do not trust us and I do not think they trust the people in this Chamber. People have huge difficulties about this. The world needs more honest brokers like a neutral Ireland. We have never been a coloniser. We have neve…

Surely any decision that could lead to significant shifts in foreign and defence policy must only be considered following robust engagement with the Irish people, and we have not seen this. This is the big weakness in the Minister of State's argument. We have not seen that engagement with people. People have not had the opportunity. I have no doubt that if there were a plebiscite, the Government's…

The bottom line is that more landlords-----

I express my sympathy and solidarity with all the families who lost loved ones and those who campaign to this day for truth and justice. My time is brief so it would be impossible to touch on all periods of the conflict in the North that cry out for answers. The British Government would have us believe that it was a neutral peacekeeping force in the North of Ireland, but we know the British Govern…

I want to be associated with the words of sympathy in relation to the crash on Dublin's North Earl Street. I only have a couple of minutes. I wanted to focus on the dangerous and antisocial use of scramblers on our streets and green spaces. It is nothing new, as my colleagues have said. In a lot of cases, it is young men and boys speeding around dressed in black, some of them in balaclavas, creati…

When is the Taoiseach going to tell us about the Garda vetting?

The answer is "No".

Emergency mental health services in this State are virtually non-existent. On any given day, more than 100 people will present at an emergency department in extreme distress and there just will not be the services and facilities to support them. Emergency mental health services remain underfunded, understaffed and largely unavailable when people need them most. That failure is costing people's liv…

International developments is such a vague concept that it is hard to know where to start. The world is becoming increasingly chaotic and divided, with American strikes in Nigeria; the UAE arming both sides in Sudan; the shambolic ceasefire in Gaza that means that Palestinians are still dying; the ongoing conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo that has displaced over a hundre…

Areas in my Dublin constituency are regularly without water for hours and days on end. Last year, in Knocklyon, over a bank holiday weekend, some areas did not have water for up to six days. Our water infrastructure simply is not up to scratch and it is down to a lack of investment. From an inability to provide water to existing homes or to provide for the thousands of future homes we desperately …

A number of years ago, I was on a clean-up of one of the parks in my constituency. It was a beautiful day. I remember looking down to the stream and I could see all these little silver canisters. I was aware it was really young people, children, who were actually using them. I coined the phrase "silver bullets" on the basis that these kids were basically playing Russian roulette. I came up with le…

The frustrating thing about this post-Council meeting discussion is that, first, there is not enough time to discuss a lot of the issues and, second, for it to work, we need to really get a sense of the Irish position in relation to what happened. The Taoiseach in his opening statement outlined what Ireland's position was on some of the issues. If we are to continue with these things, it would be …

Was the relative failure of the Cyprus-Gaza maritime aid corridor discussed? Was any alternative suggested to simply shipping aid to an Israeli port to join the other thousands of tonnes of aid that has not been allowed through to Palestinian people who are living in tents? Were sanctions against Israel discussed owing to the massive increase in settler violence against Palestinian civilians, the…

The Taoiseach referred to the Horizon Europe research programme, which includes the continuation of the PEACEPLUS programme. What was the reaction on that? If the Minister of State does not have time to reply, he might send us a note on it.