Gary Gannon

I unreservedly support the motion and thank Deputy Cummins for bringing it forward. I want to say clearly that the current system is failing to reflect the Ireland of today. In 2021, I stood in this Chamber and said the Government was paying lip service to the idea of a truly inclusive education system, flagging that there was no clear roadmap to providing 400 multidenominational primary schools b…

There have been 19 months of devastation and evil on a scale not witnessed in many centuries. We have watched annihilation being afflicted upon Gaza. We now have the calls from Netanyahu and those who follow him for ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza. We have heard the words of the Taoiseach and the talk of the Tánaiste last week. We need to know when there is going to be action and consequenc…

I do not feel like celebrating Europe Day today for reasons that have been outlined very clearly for more than 19 months now. That is not to say that I do not appreciate Europe or the role it has played in the development of Ireland. I am often reminded of a quote by John McGahern, who said that Ireland was an agrarian society right up to the mid-20th century and then almost went straight to the 2…

Every Deputy who stands up will have a story to tell about his or her own constituency and the absence of effective childcare or aftercare provision, precisely because this insidious issue affects the means by which parents organise their days, get into work and ensure that their children are looked after in a manner that taken for granted in most other jurisdictions. It is difficult to know where…

I want to raise an issue I have raised on previous occasions, namely, the community I am very proud to represent, one that has its challenges but is always flourishing and has a deep history. It is a place full of strong families and deep roots, but it is a community that can often be overlooked and is struggling right now. The residents of Cabra have asked, in recognition not just of the problems…

I thank the Minister of State for her substantial contribution and recognition of Cabra, and her personal awareness of how change-positive the family resource centres can be for a community, particularly communities that, of their own volition, recognise the need for them. Cabra is an area with such an incredible history. The GAA team there is a real focal point for the community. There is generat…

I thank Labour for bringing forward this important motion. I bid a huge welcome to the parents and guardians who are in the Gallery, many of whom I recognise from my community. There also people who have had to travel to the Dáil previously and who have slept outside the offices of the Department merely to vindicate their child's rights. Each time I see those very same faces, hear their stories an…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the motion on Ireland's opt-in to the EU's amending regulation on insolvency proceedings. This might appear to be a technical matter and just another adjustment to European legal frameworks, but to those of us who believe the law should first and foremost serve people, it is anything but abstract. Insolvency law, at its core, governs what happens when thing…

There is much to welcome in the legislation as proposed. While we support many of the anti-SLAPP measures that are included, like others, we in the Social Democrats recoil at the absence of juries within the courts system. Juries provide the judgment of a person's peers. Juries have a sense of public confidence and democratic principles built into them by their very nature. Juries reflect public v…

I thank the Minister for being forthright in his explanation of how his views have not so much evolved but probably remained the exact same. I took from his contribution that this is not something he believes in good conscience. He said he was bound by the principles of compromise. If I am to understand this, Fine Gael got 20.8% of the first preference vote in the last general election. I do not s…

Similarly, the Social Democrats will oppose this section. Again, this is about the principle of having trials by jury and the word "defending". I have listened for the past hour and a half. We have read the research in the Oireachtas reports and by the various experts. Nobody has yet laid out any evidence to show why this would make the system better. I heard how it would make it cheaper, but that…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 12, to delete all words from and including “but” in lines 13 down to and including “participation” in 14 and substitute the following: “have the effect of preventing, restricting or penalising public participation”. I thank Deputy Carthy and others. The Bill says lawsuits must have the main purpose of stopping public participation to be considered abusive. My pro…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 14, to delete lines 6 to 14 and substitute the following: “34E. (1)Where a defendant in defamation proceedings relating to his or her engagement in public participation makes an application to the court, in accordance with law, to strike out the claim as being an abusive lawsuit against public participation.”.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 14, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “Stay of proceedings 34EA. (1) Upon an application made under section 34E by a defendant to a proceeding, no further step may be taken in the proceeding by any party until the application, including any appeal against the application, has been finally disposed of. (2) Unless a judge orders otherwise, the clai…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 15, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “34FA. Where an application for declaration has been made before or during a trial of action and costs, a judge must not strike out a claim and appeal under section 34E if the claimant satisfies the judge that— (a) the claim is likely to prevail at trial, and (b) the harm suffered or likely to be suffered by th…

I understand and appreciate that later this week we will have statements on the Farrelly commission report but given the gravity of the failures Grace has had to endure, perhaps words alone will not be enough in this instance. After nearly a decade and a cost of €13 million, basic questions still have not been answered. If the Government wants to take action and do something constructive, adult sa…

President Higgins rightly warned this week against the outrageous abuse of antisemitism accusations to silence criticism of Israel and its genocidal actions in Gaza. Yet, the Government continues to endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, IHRA, definition despite it being internationally discredited for its chilling effect on free speech and legitimate condemnation of Israel's ac…

Why have it, then?

Why have it?

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for the suspension of the powers, responsibilities and entitlements of guardianship in certain circumstances and for that purpose to amend the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 and to provide for related matters. The Social Democrats wish to introduce this Bill for the simple reason that there exists what the Minister fo…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

When we speak about Trump's tariffs what we are actually discussing is an assault on Irish workers and global workers. It is also an assault on our industries and on the communities that have been built up around them. When we speak about Trump we have to remember who we are speaking about. Sometimes he is afforded too much credit and people ask what exactly does he want and how can we negotiate. …

The Taoiseach's Department oversees the north-east inner-city task force. Such is the extent of the crisis in schools funding at the moment that I am meeting with representatives of four schools, Rutland National School being one of them, with Jim Gavin who chairs the north-east inner-city task force to try to understand how more than €50 million from the Taoiseach's Department has been spent on t…

5. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach for an update in respect of the programme plan for child poverty and well-being 2023-2025. [12936/25]

16. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach for an update in respect of the programme plan for child poverty and well-being 2023-2025. [17214/25]