Danny Healy-Rae

----that would show a person had vetting for a number of years? The card could be used in each place.

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I welcome the introduction of this Bill which will ensure that electronic evidence needed for criminal investigations can be requested by law enforcement from service providers. What I am thinking about is the apprehension of drug lords who are ruining our society and causing so much mayhem in families. We see youngsters committing suicide and the disrupt…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this. I cannot support Sinn Féin's Bill nor did I support the Social Democrats a week or so ago. It is my firm belief that the birth of a child is a wonder. It is better than anything. The child is entitled to the right to life, like we got a chance at it. On this three-day wait, it surely is not much to have to wait when the birth of a child is at stak…

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise this issue again. I will tell the Minister of State why I am doing it again. I raised this matter exactly a month ago, on 12 May, with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. We spoke at length about the need and the urgency of opening the community hospital in Killarney. On 29 May, there was a meeting arranged between the HSE locally and the five TDs fro…

It is hard to see the children's hospital ever opening-----

-----if the Government cannot open a community hospital in Killarney.

All right. Thank you very much.

I thank the Minister of State for her reply but practically everything she read out was read out by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, a month ago. Here we are with this confusion again placed upon the people of Killarney and the surrounding area. Surely the HSE knew the hospital was to be finished before the end of last December. Surely it knew staffing arrangements would have to be agreed…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important topic this evening. Tourism is major moneyspinner for businesses in Kerry. I want to thank the businesses of Kerry because they do it so much better than anywhere else. Our hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars and all the entities we have in tourism - our jarveys, boatmen and busmen - all do their work so professionally. That is why…

Many people are in a desperate state. I appeal to the Minister of State to acknowledge that. While I welcome these energy supports, which are badly needed, a lot more needs to be done. With over 300,000 people in energy arrears, there is no question as to the impact the increase in energy costs is having on people. Something needs to be done about the ever-increasing costs of electricity. Since Bo…

I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Michael Collins. Each and every one of us knows what harm the Israelis have done all over the world and continue to do. We do not support that. I am concerned about stopping our Irish team from playing a game and I wonder whether it may have far-reaching repercussions for them. The players have trained and come this far. Will it be just this game they forfeit? How many…

As the Tánaiste is aware, many young people between the ages of 25 and 33 are leaving our shores. Many of them were in good, settled jobs. These are gardaí, teachers, mechanics and people with different trades. They are valuable individuals, and they are leaving because they simply believe that they cannot buy or build a house for themselves. They say that if they were not working at all or workin…

The other thing is that the birth rate is falling yet our population is going up with a population increase of over 500,000 in recent years. This is putting pressure on house availability. With many vacant houses, there is no real incentive available to owners to rent them out but there is an incentive there that is working for the Ukrainian people, namely, a tax-free payment of €600 to the landlo…

They are costing us as well.

During the recent fuel protests, it became clear that we do not have enough oil reserve capacity. In the early days, there were mutterings that Europe could facilitate up to 12 months. There was no more about that then. What is the position regarding the massive storage tanks in Whiddy Island? We can all see them from the road from Kilgarvan to Bantry. What is inside those tanks now? Is it water, …

First, I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this timely and important motion to allow us to say what we want in Dáil Éireann regarding neutrality. It is most important that we retain our neutrality and the triple lock. If the Government wants to change it, by all means it should put it to the people of Ireland. It should put it to the country. There is nothing to be afraid of. At all times,…

-----the world. I certainly do not want to see a European army we are part of.

The square in Kenmare town has been flooded many times over the years. To that end, I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for public works, Deputy Moran, for going down there and taking stock. A scheme is promised to deal with the situation. However, a sewerage pipe is crossing the eye of the courthouse bridge which collects debris and trees and practically blocks the river. This is wh…

It would save people’s businesses from being destroyed and ruined as has happened many different times before.

I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words. As many others have said, those ten years were an awful time in the lives of many people in our country. Many people lost their homes and lands and, worse than that, they lost their marriages and some of them lost their children. They lost everything. Some even lost their lives. It was a terrible time and NAMA was a word many people regretted an…

I just want to inform Deputy Heneghan that I welcomed four young hares into my field the other morning. They were grand specimens. I thank the local community groups, the Tidy Towns committees and the rural development companies for the great work they do enhancing our environment around all our towns and villages in the county of Kerry. We are facing a massive challenge with our wastewater trea…

I thank Sinn Féin for this very important motion. I was against the rule the Minister brought in a number of months ago from 1 March that people would have to rent their houses out for six years. The news that was coming drove many people out of the market. Since some time early last year, many people have come to me who were after getting their notice to quit and their hearts were broken because …

On a point of order, I want to register a complaint about the Minister and the Minister of State. We spoke for eight or nine minutes and they did not listen to one word that we said.

They were talking. They are ignorant and arrogant and they will not listen but they will get their answer when they go to the doors.

I have listened to this debate continuously this morning. Indeed, I remember it so well eight and nine years ago. I suppose I have to say I am pro life and I think that when a baby is born, it is the most majestic, natural and beautiful thing in the world. I am lucky that, in my time, Eileen and I have had six children, and now we have eight grandchildren. We have to think of the baby in the sit…