Cormac Devlin

I welcome the debate and the contributions from all Members of the House, as well as the varying views. As Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, I believe this is exactly the type of debate and discussion that we should be having in this House. The agreement envisages that the people of this island may one day be asked to decide on their constitut…

24. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [51116/26]

I welcome the opportunity to speak today on dementia. Like many others, I want to extend a particularly warm welcome to Jordan and Cian Adams, the FTB Brothers. I commend them on all their fundraising work and advocacy. Today, we remember their beloved mother, Geraldine. There are 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland today. Around 11,000 people receive a diagnosis every single year. Ther…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Postal and Telecommunications Services (Amendment) Bill 2026. I am glad to support its passage. This is a short Bill with a single purpose. Section 1 raises the amount the Minister can make available to An Post for the post office network from €30 million to €105 million. That one change gives legal effect to the Government's decision, announced earlier th…

I thank Deputy Clendennen. I welcome and support the Bill, which implements the reforms agreed by the Dáil in 2024 and will accelerate the supply of housing. The housing crisis is the defining challenge facing this country and we all see the impact in our weekly clinics. The Planning and Development Act 2024 was the largest reform of our planning legislation in a generation. I want to focus on thr…

I am pleased to speak on this Bill, which I support. Recent events in the Middle East have underscored the necessity of this Bill. The energy crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East has seen record price hikes but, more importantly, raised questions over Ireland's energy security. This is an issue that I have highlighted on several occasions in the House in this term and the previous one.…

24. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the recent UK-Ireland summit. [21382/26]

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

I join the Taoiseach in his remarks about Prime Minister Starmer and all of the work he has done in rebuilding the relationship between Ireland and the UK, including through the UK-Ireland summits that have taken place in Liverpool and Cork. I welcome the €377 million announced overnight for the shared island initiative, particularly the €193 million for the Dublin-Belfast-Derry line. That is rea…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for that. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026. As the Taoiseach noted, the accelerating growth of AI is both a challenge and an opportunity. AI is here, being used daily by businesses and individuals, and it will continue to develop. It is not something we can ignore. AI-related economic acti…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026. Last year, the airport saw 36.4 million passengers travel through it. It was the busiest year in the airport’s history, up more than 5% on the year before. Passenger numbers there have grown by 46% in the last decade. The cap is set at 32 million, so last year the airport carried more than 4…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Criminal Justice (International Cooperation on Electronic Evidence and Other Matters) Bill 2026. The objective of this Bill is to support efforts to tackle crime being facilitated over the Internet. The large drugs cartel being organised on an encrypted app, the fraud run from a server in another country, the grooming of a child through a social media acc…

151. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the way in which the SME test is helping small businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45641/26]

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on tourism. Tourism is worth almost €9 billion a year to our national economy. It supports jobs in every county, town and community across this country. Last year, almost 6.5 million visitors from overseas came to Ireland, spending an estimated €5.5 billion. We should, however, be honest about the trend. Visitor numbers in 2025 were down 3% an…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Finance Bill 2026, which gives effect to the cost-of-living package introduced by the Government earlier this year. These supports include 32 cent off a litre of diesel, 27 cent off a litre of petrol and other measures which are not small adjustments. They are part of a significant €750 million package to support families and businesses …

Skills, training and innovation are the foundation of Ireland's competitiveness and of every young person's opportunity in life. The investment of €1.5 billion in the National Training Fund, including €37 million to SOLAS for construction, manufacturing, healthcare and the green transition, is the single most consequential reskilling investment of this Government. Apprenticeship registrations in c…

26. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island unit in his Department. [14896/26]

Funding for the shared island initiative - an initiative brought in by the Taoiseach in 2020 - increased by €1 billion in the last budget, which is very welcome. It has supported a wide range of projects, cultural and community groups and infrastructural projects, which the Taoiseach outlined his reply. As Chair of the Good Friday Agreement committee, I have seen first hand the benefit and improve…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is a short and technical, but necessary, Bill. The purpose is straightforward, namely, to extend the powers the NTA exercises in the greater Dublin area to cities such as Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. It enables the NTA to deliver the infrastructural elements of BusConnects Cork and removes the statutory gap that has held up a major projec…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. While it is a short Bill, it is a very significant one. I thank the Minister and his officials for bringing it forward. It delivers on a clear programme for Government commitment. It implements a key recommendation of the independent Study on Familicide and Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews. It does so under a name, Valerie's Law, in …

I raise again the status of the long-promised primary care centre for Loughlinstown on the existing health centre site. The HSE confirmed last year that the operational lease process for the new Loughlinstown primary centre, along with full planning, collapsed when the preferred operator withdrew for viability reasons. The HSE advised that it was carrying out a service-led review before deciding o…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Second Stage debate on the National Treasury Management Agency (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. This is, in effect, the Bill that closes the book on NAMA. It dissolves the agency, concludes the special liquidation of IBRC and transfers the small amount of residual activity to a new resolution unit within the NTMA. It is a technical Bill but it de…

4. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland will meet next. [7908/26]

I thank the Taoiseach for the update. As Cathaoirleach of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement committee I have seen first hand the value of the shared island initiative from my visit last June with the Taoiseach to Narrow Water Bridge in County Louth, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, to the ongoing restoration of the Ulster Canal. Closer to home, Dún Laoghaire-Rath…