Sinéad Gibney

I am very grateful for the opportunity to raise the issue of the closure and liquidation of the Southside Traveller Action Group, STAG. STAG has provided support to the Traveller community in my constituency and neighbouring constituencies for four decades. It provides support for some of the most marginalised people in our country, through periods when Travellers have faced horrific racism and ab…

I thank the Minister of State. The Minister of State mentioned the governance issues that have arisen. This organisation has operated for 40 years and the governance and running of the organisation was done very well during that time. I have worked with many of these groups and it is against all odds sometimes that they survive with very little funding, a lot of volunteer power, and community spir…

I have always felt that technology is a positive force in society. My career has been shaped by how technology can be harnessed for social good. Back in 1997, I did my undergraduate dissertation on the impact of the information revolution on the development of socialism, would you believe. That was back when we called it the information revolution and back when I called myself more openly a social…

Over the past ten years, Ireland has seen the closure of more than 257 post offices. In my own constituency, the Mount Merrion post office closed in 2021 and the Kilmacud post office closed just a few weeks ago on 11 February. Residents now face up to 40 minutes of a commute to reach a basic amenity. Both of those post offices closed as a result of An Post being unable to recruit new postmasters t…

As we have heard, the implications of the illegal attack of the US and Israel on Iran and the retaliatory attacks are far reaching in terms of citizen safety abroad, energy prices and international law. We need a debate on this issue this week. The Taoiseach has just said we have not debated Iran enough, so please make time for this and debate these pressing issues.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as ucht an tairiscint seo a tabhairt chun na Dála anocht. Is léir ón méid atá tarlaithe ó thaobh líon na gcainteoirí laethúla sa Ghaeltacht le blianta anuas go bhfuil ag teip go huile is go hiomlán ar an Rialtas lena chuid iarrachtaí deireadh a chur le meath na Gaeltachta. Le gach daonáireamh, tá níos lú cainteoirí laethúla sa Ghaeltacht. Le bli…

134. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the steps his Department is taking to update the codes of practice for live events, particularly live music events, to better facilitate live music performance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17202/26]

179. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the effort his Department is making to support the League of Ireland men’s and women’s leagues, and domestic football, in light of vast growth in attendance and viewership over the last period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16800/26]

We know that while everyone feels the pressure of the housing crisis, there are particular groups who face the most brutal aspects of it. The crisis really has seeped into the life of every Irish person, but some people feel it worse than others. Those individuals are more likely to become homeless. They then struggle to get out of homelessness. I am talking about Travellers, migrants, those suffe…

I thank the Minister of State for her contribution today and thank all of my colleagues from the committee. I also thank Deputy O'Rourke for allowing me to go first. I have a constituency event so I really appreciate that. I have really enjoyed the work of the AI committee to date. I am a new TD and I am on three committees. I have to say, the AI committee has been the most divisive in a lot of w…

I welcome that the Government will not oppose this motion. I want to recap Sláintecare for a moment, which my party is really proud of, and the work that Róisín Shortall did and her legacy. Sláintecare was about cross-party co-operation and longitudinal vision for a transformation of our healthcare system from a two-tier to a single-tier system. This Government downgraded it from where it should h…

According to the annual report of PDD Holdings - the company that owns Temu, a discount e-commerce platform that I am sure the Minister is familiar with - its jurisdiction of incorporation is the Cayman Islands. On the same form, it is stated that the company's principal executive office is here in Ireland. A company incorporated in a foreign jurisdiction and managed from Ireland is tax resident h…

What about the broader picture?

I will start local and then widen it out to the broader vision of inclusive education. Locally, we have been affected by this most recent debacle. Clíona O’Keeffe, who is the principal of Our Lady’s Boys National School in Ballinteer, made multiple media contributions in which she put it perfectly. She said that as a wealthy European country, surely we have enough money in our budget to pay for en…

I support Deputy Gannon on this amendment. It is incredibly sad that we are moving towards this system of detention not just in Ireland but also across Europe through the EU migration and asylum pact, particularly because it took the State so long to untangle international protection from pursuing people through arrest. The courts had to achieve that through a series of cases to eventually try to …

Human trafficking is a horrendous scourge on our society. It is a multibillion dollar crime that is carried out by organised crime gangs. The delicacy with which we have to treat victims of human trafficking cannot be overstated. I referenced earlier how long it had taken us, essentially driven by the courts, to untangle international protection from allegations of crime. The case I was referenci…

The answer to the Minister's question about how we would do it is that if we are seeking to detain people, we have an obligation to determine whether they are victims of of human trafficking. The Minister mentioned the NRM but that extends well beyond An Garda Síochána. There are supposed to be civil society groups that are available through the NRM and are compelled and empowered to identify vict…

The Minister presents to us a hypothetical scenario where someone comes in and is sent to Citywest. This is the system he is presenting to us. We are trying our best to fix parts within it, which we believe will make it a humane and fairer system. Given the Minister presented one hypothetical scenario, here is another one. Let us say a government of the future is even harder on migration than this…

I was encouraged to hear the Minister of State's commitment to using every lever available to him at European Union level to address this because we are at an absolute crisis point for Ireland's fishing industry. I also heard him couch that within the geopolitical pressures this Government faces as a member state of the European Union, but there are obviously concerns. The guarantees given to us d…

6. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the steps his Department is taking to support SMEs with rising delivery and postage costs, and the impact of those increased costs on their competitiveness and ability to do business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13367/26]

As other Deputies have raised, SMEs are acutely feeling the cost of business right now. Many of them do not have the budget or level of business to be able to engage the courier services for the same rates as bigger businesses. Many rely on An Post but it has recently increased its rates and lowered the upper limit for parcels. What is the Department doing to support small businesses dealing with …

This issue has been raised with me and I suggest that if the Government is looking for practical measures, this is one that it should explore. We have a landscape where many small businesses do not even have retail spaces any more and make the majority of their money from online orders which they then have to send via the post or by courier to their customers. The cost of doing this has gone throu…

I appreciate the Minister of State's willingness to explore this issue. I would argue that there are two ways to tackle it. One is by looking at the retail costs of An Post and the other is by looking at the supports that the his Department can specifically offer. Small business owners who have contacted my office feel forgotten. Some are new, some have been in operation for decades but these busi…

I extend my solidarity to the people in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown who have been impacted by Storm Chandra and to everyone across the country who has been impacted by Strom Chandra and other recent weather events. Locally we saw incredible footage of damaged areas like Nutgrove Avenue and Enniskerry Road. I acknowledge the incredible work of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, not only …

Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Labour Party for bringing this legislation forward. Remote and flexible work is a vital part of our lives now. It is a huge opportunity for many to find a better work-life balance, for businesses to innovate and for local communities to benefit from development and commerce happening in a more geographically balanced way. The Social Democrats have always championed…