Danny Healy-Rae

This is important. It will take 20 to 24 years to complete.

Like every other Member, I appreciate our post office network. We are sad to think that so many post offices have closed around us over the years. I remember the previous postmasters in Kilgarvan, Denis P. O'Sullivan and his brother, John O'Sullivan. Before them were Bridie and James Cronin. She used to send her brother out with the telegrams. My uncles told me a story. They met him one day going…

I am sorry that I cannot speak Irish fluently like all of the others here who have done so this evening. I have to tell Deputy Gould that I too have two daughters who are fluent Irish speakers. One of them, Theresa, trained in Dingle, An Daingean. I want to thank the Gaeltacht communities that we have in Kerry - Baile na Sceilge, Uíbh Ráthaigh, Daingean Uí Chúis and all those areas. We are really…

I want to thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion before us this evening. I welcome the gentlemen from the Gaeltacht here too this evening. I know housing is a serious issue in Dingle. I have people onto me nearly crying trying to source a house to rent. It is a fact that many people are going through this day after day. A lot of houses are taken up by tourists. The tourism sector is very importa…

I thank the Social Democrats for this very worthwhile motion. I also thank the Government for the large amount of funding that was provided for services in Kerry, including an ambulance depot for Cahersiveen, which is much needed. People there struggled in the past to get an ambulance. University Hospital Kerry received quite a lot of money to increase beds and services there. I very much welcome …

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this very serious and important topic. Every one of us knows that Ireland is surrounded by water. We should and do own our waters and I cannot understand for the life of me how the UK is entitled to fish in the coastal waters that obtain to the 26 Counties. All up the west belongs to Southern Ireland up as far as the tip of Donegal. We should be entitle…

I thank Sinn Féin for giving us the opportunity to talk about this very important matter. I welcome all the concerned people in the Gallery. I thank all of the SNA teachers, ordinary teachers and principals we have in Kerry for the wonderful work they have been doing for the past great number of years. We all rely on teachers and need them very much. I am glad the Government paused this case and …

I have three minutes. These two people came into the school from the Department, talked and went around the classrooms. That is not right and it should not happen. The Minister and Minister of State have to take the blame and ensure that does not happen again. That is what I am asking them.

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise this problem at the Topical Issue forum today. I hope the Minister will take it seriously. I do not want to be laughed at like I was last week when I asked a question here. This is serious business for anyone who does not have a home and is trying to find a property to rent. In many instances, they can be hit with a traumatic event that they were never rea…

I ask again about the tenant in situ scheme. The Minister of State said money has been allocated to it. Will he talk to Kerry County Council to see what is wrong and why it cannot operate the tenant in situ scheme? Elected members in Kerry have been asking the local authority to buy land banks to build local authority houses in small villages, such as Scotia's Glen, Gneeveguilla, Firies, Curragh,…

The short-term places are not what I am talking about at all. It is the houses that are vacant and have nobody in them-----

We are glad to have this debate because it is vital. Many Irish farmers do not really understand the implications of this or how it spreads. We have been told it is caused by midges but I do not think any midges would survive coming from the North to Wexford. How did that happen? Simple questions like that need to be explained. If there is evidence of how it happened or may have spread, the Minis…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I did not think my slot was coming up so soon. It is very tough for young couples now who are trying to purchase, build or hold onto a home. When it comes to building homes in Kerry, there are a lot of people who would build their home if they could get planning permission, but they cannot because of the strict rules with urban-generated pressure. Locals …

I thank the Minister of State for being very hands-on and for coming to Kerry again recently. Back in 2018, he gave us funding to clear the Flesk river. For ten years before that, we were constantly being told that it would make no difference to clear the river, that it would only make 10 mm of a difference. The highest flood that has been there in the last eight years did not come within 8 ft of …

I am glad there are rumours that the Government is going to dilute the short-term letting in the Bill and to increase the population of towns so that it will apply to towns with populations of over 20,000. However, I believe anybody who has been doing Airbnb for more than seven years is entitled to planning permission because they already have it. There are people who have been doing this for 20 y…

The other thing I want to say to the Taoiseach is that this is very urgent.

It has to be dealt with urgently-----

-----in order to let the people continue what they are doing for this season otherwise they will lose this season.

First, I want to make it crystal clear that I myself only own one house and I am not in the rental business or never have been. I want to make that absolutely clear. I only own one house. I am very concerned about the six-year rule. I believe we are attempting to interfere with people's constitutional and democratic rights. People work very hard, early in the morning and late at night, to build o…

All the farmers from around the country are very welcome here tonight. I know they have all been very anxious and upset for the past number of weeks. What has happened is not fair. We know that the same standards do not apply in Brazil as apply here. I myself and my young fellas are farmers and we know what inspections are like. We worry about the TB test and the Bord Bia inspections, and then you…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion, which is very important. We all know that people with a disability have the greatest need to be looked after. I honestly believe that people with a disability who are living on their own should be looked after more than anyone else because they face all the costs of keeping the house and trying to keep themselves warm. We all know that…

I am glad to have an opportunity to ask the Minister of State to prioritise a number of projects in Kerry. The N72 leaves Killarney, going from Ballydowny to the Golden Nugget, and then goes around the Ring of Kerry from the Gap across to Grenagh. It is otherwise known as the Killalee project. These two sections of road are in a desperate state. The road from the Golden Nugget to the Gap Cross ha…

I am glad to talk on this very important Bill this evening. I thank the Minister, Deputy Jim O’Callaghan, for taking this issue by the scruff of the neck because, since he came into office and took over this role, he has already put people on the plane back to the countries that they came from if they were not entitled to be here. That has not been done in the last number of years with previous Mi…

I am very concerned about this departure, this loan of €90 billion and that we are going to be tied into it. There are important questions here. We are here at the behest of the people who elected us, to account for their welfare and ensure taxpayers' money is properly spent. We are accountable for it. I have not been told how much Ireland is committing. How much of the €90 billion are we borrowi…

I will repeat the question I asked earlier. How much of the €90 billion are we committing to?