James Geoghegan

12. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if his Department could help support the Dublin city task force recommendation for a meanwhile-use strategy for privately owned lands in Dublin city centre to utilise the city’s vacant space for musical, artistic and cultural events, artists workspaces, community spaces; and if he will make a state…

I wish to ask the Minister if his Department could support the Dublin city task force recommendation for a meanwhile-use strategy for privately owned lands in Dublin city centre to utilise the city's vacant space for musical, artistic and cultural events, artists' workspaces, community spaces, and if he will make a statement.

I thank the Minister, and I wish him well in his brief as well. I thank him for his reply. It is very encouraging to see both the alignment of the existing night-time strategy with the recommendations that were already in the Dublin city task force, and the emphasis that both the Minister and the Department have placed on the use of meanwhile-use strategies. Ultimately, when we talk about the cha…

One of the biggest examples of that would be the GPO itself. The task force report includes a recommendation that by the end of the first quarter of this year, decisions will be made on what use the GPO will be put to. More than 800 people used to work in that place. When they left that place, that reduced the number of people coming into an area of our city that has proven to be the most challeng…

As a man in public life, I firmly believe that gender equality is not just a woman's issue. It is an issue for all of us. True progress requires male allyship, and history has shown that when men stand shoulder to shoulder with women in the fight for equality, transformative change happens. In the 19th century, John Stuart Mill stood in the British Parliament advocating for women's suffrage, chall…

I wish the Minister of State well in his new brief and also wish my constituency colleague Jim O'Callaghan well in his new brief. I was going to start by giving praise to gardaí and the work they do, but having listened to Deputy Lawless's contribution I find it really frustrating that somebody in this Chamber would stand up and belittle gardaí in the way-----

-----he has just done.

To suggest there are no-----

I did mention the Deputy's name.

Am I not allowed identify things that are being said in this House and to challenge those things? That is an extraordinary-----

Precisely.

Those of us who are public representatives, which is every single one of us in this room, deal with community gardaí every day of the week. The public watching this listen to and deal with community gardaí every day of the week and the public have huge faith and trust in community gardaí. They do not view gardaí as something to be featured on social media. That is not what this is about. We need …

8. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to the establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [6095/25]

9. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [6383/25]

16. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach for an update in relation to establishment of the new disability unit within his Department. [7953/25]

I very much welcome this whole-of-government approach to disability services which is so essential to meeting needs. My question relates to recruitment and retention. The critical skills list was expanded in 2022 so that occupational therapists and speech and language therapists could get employment permits. I have received replies to questions which show the figures are quite small. Just 62 occu…

There were 62 occupational therapists and 21 speech and language therapists. Obviously, this is a process that has worked very successfully for nurses and midwives where we recruit up to 1,000 internationally every year. Is this something the unit could look at and we could expand on further?

14. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence his views on whether there is a need to enhance the community use of the playing pitches at Cathal Brugha Barracks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6099/25]

My question to the Minister is to ask his views on whether there is a need to enhance the community use of the playing pitches at Cathal Brugha Barracks.

I thank the Minister. It is great to hear his own personal commitment to this advancement in addition to the Department. I wish to highlight our gratitude to the Department for the good faith negotiations they are having with Ranelagh Gaels and Portobello GAA, and for the years of community supports that the Defence Forces and the Department have offered up to the area. As the Minister said, it i…

This is very welcome. I am sure the club will be delighted to hear all of the Tánaiste's contributions to this debate. As he said, this shows in a positive way how the Defence Forces and barracks can become integrated in an urban community. The best way in which Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines can be integrated in the community is through the level of support the barracks has always shown the …

I thank the Ukrainian ambassador and the delegation for attending today. Three years ago, Irish people looked on in horror at what was taking place in Ukraine. In different ways we tried to respond to the challenges faced by the Ukrainian people. In a symbolic gesture, Dublin City Council of which I was a member initiated a process that ultimately twinned Kyiv with Dublin. More recently, when I wa…

I thank the Ministers of State for being in attendance. I wish them both well in their briefs. I also wish the Minister, Deputy Foley, well in her brief. One of the things I urge all three of them to do is to listen to parents of disabled children, engage with parent support groups in every constituency and listen to their lived experience. One of the big issues we see throughout the country is th…

123. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth what steps she intends to take to implement the programme for Government commitment to extend the national childcare scheme to childminders working in the family home with sensible regulations that fit home-based care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7879/25]

I congratulate you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, on your election. While I congratulated her in her absence, I also congratulate the Minister on her appointment. When does she intend to implement the programme for Government commitment to extend the national childcare scheme to childminders working in the family home with sensible regulations that fit home-based care?