Pa Daly

I did not get a chance earlier to pay tribute to and congratulate Catherine Connolly. I also pay tribute to Sr. Stan who was a Listowel woman and a Kerry woman. In a week when we saw the outrageous attack on the house in Drogheda and convictions for racially motivated murders, I would love to know what she would have thought about the way the country is going. I pay tribute to her for all of her w…

Sinn Féin has long called for this debate and I am glad to finally have the chance to stand up for coastal and fishing communities. I thank our fisheries spokesman, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, for pushing for this debate.

These fishing communities have played a critical role in our economy and culture for generations but are now facing an existential threat following proposed cuts to our fishing quota and the Common Fisheries Policy. Just as we must protect marine life and biodiversity, we must also prioritise the communities that have lived alongside them for generations. Science and sustainability are not incompa…

Despite 100 years of partition, the ties that bind us together remain strong. Many of us have family ties across the Border, such as my family ties in Enniskillen, Belleek and Derry. Those cousins are just as Irish as I am. Some 20,000 to 30,000 people cross the Border every day to work. When my club, Na Gaeil, plays in the latter stages of the all-Ireland club championship, we have to deal with t…

The education of children with special needs is one of the most frustrating and distressing situations for parents in County Kerry. They look on and see potential and achievable progress denied. As one mother said to me, the early years system is broken and the lack of appropriate services will have lifelong impacts on her son. Everywhere we turn we see that services have huge waiting lists, a sho…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I appreciate that he is only standing in for his ministerial colleague. He said there has been significant investment but we are just not seeing that locally in Kerry, which has one of the lowest numbers of early intervention classes in the State. An early intervention class includes a qualified primary school teacher and SNAs teaching the children. As …

Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur mar gheall ar aonad oinceolaíochta san ospidéal i dTrá Lí. The continued failure to provide and deliver a stand-alone oncology and haematology unit at University Hospital Kerry is totally unacceptable. Patients and families in County Kerry deserve the highest standards of care. The minimum they should get is oncology services that are at least the equivalent of those in…

What about the stand-alone unit?

Almost a decade ago, the Tánaiste pledged that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery. Eight years later, nine year old Harvey Morrison Sherratt died after waiting years for a procedure that could have saved his life. The curve in his spine went from 75 degrees to 130 degrees. By the time Harvey received spinal surgery, the curve had reached the point where it could not be fu…

The devastating consequences of the housing crisis have seeped into almost every aspect of our lives and are wreaking havoc in almost all aspects of our economy and society. No community has escaped its clutches and barely a family has not felt the brunt of its force. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have proved time and again that they are incapable of turning things around. In fact, the only thing they…

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, which deals with the EPA licensing system. Like many other systems, it is facing many problems, not least the long delays for many applicants. This poses a threat to the protection of the environment and erects barriers to the delivery of critical infrastructure. Sinn Féin is committed to Irelan…

92. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport to provide an update on his Department's investigation into overflights of munitions to Israel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51973/25]

I am seeking an update on the Department's investigation into overflights of munitions to Israel? Will the Minister commit to upholding Irish law under the Air Navigation Act and to concrete actions to stop Israel transporting weaponry and munitions it is using to commit war crimes in Palestine?

I presume the Minister is talking about the draft report submitted in March this year.

Will he commit to publishing it or give us a reason for refusing to publish it? Will we be here again in seven months or seven years demanding answers from a Government that is still not publishing it? There is a perception, of which I think the Minister is aware, that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been turning a blind eye to some of the most egregious crimes against humanity. I would also like t…

-----these arms to travel through our airspace, that is, the same arms that are systematically targeting children.

I have raised this issue before. As the Minister has said this evening and on the previous occasion, under Irish air navigation law, the carriage of munitions is prohibited on any civil aircraft and failure to comply carries up to three years' imprisonment. The operators of these flights seem to think the Government has zero intention of upholding the law, unlike the Belgian Government, which open…

94. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the measures he is taking to ensure balanced regional development of transport infrastructure following the review of the national development plan. [51974/25]

What does the Minister plan to do to address the critical infrastructural deficits that cripple Ireland's transport networks the length and breadth of the State? What is he doing to address the fact the national development plan includes concrete measures only for the Dublin MetroLink, a project that has been in the pipeline for decades? The feeling is that he is leaving rural Ireland behind. What…

As the Minister said, it is about delivery at this stage. All the projects he mentioned are projects that were previously announced. The NDP review did not bring anything new to the table. It was also scant on any real substance or detail. Most of the projects were on the books for years and some of them, like MetroLink, for decades. MetroLink, on the books for decades, is the only transport proje…

According to reports, the Government is set to hike public transport fees in this year's budget. We have heard that there is a €250 million funding gap and, as a result, commuters who are already crippled by rising rents and the cost of living are going to face fare hikes. I want the Minister to commit to retaining the reductions in public transport fares as part of this year's budget. Earlier th…

100. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the measures he is taking to reintroduce catering services on rail services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51698/25]

The Minister mentioned he was in Heuston Station this morning. I saw him there with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. He may have noticed the 7 a.m. train from Tralee, which came in shortly before he arrived without any catering service on it. We would think between the lot of the Ministers who were down there that they might be able to sort it out. I do n…

I agree that we have raised this issue previously. In fact, back in February we received a reply that the tendering process had been progressed and was at an advanced stage with costings established, and that it was with the NTA for funding. Is there any need to outsource it to a company that will charge a seven-figure amount? When I was a student and after that, Iarnród Éireann directly employed …

On many of the trains the facilities are there. There is a counter there.